1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to graphics. In particular, the invention relates to graphic display.
2. Description of Related Art
A typical process of loading an operating system (OS) from a basic input and output system (BIOS) takes some time to complete. During this time, typically the display screen displays an image as selected by the operating system. This image is fixed and is not changed by the OS. Similarly, when the system is shutdown, the OS goes through a shutdown sequence and displays images on the screen during the shutdown process. The boot-up and shutdown images as displayed by the OS are normally not useful to the user and merely contain routine messages.
Since the time to boot up and shut down is sufficiently long for the system to display more informative images, it is desirable to be able to display images other than the standard logos of the operating system.
Therefore there is a need in the technology to provide a simple and efficient method to display an image during a transition of the operating system.
The present invention is a method and apparatus to display an image during a transition of an operating system in a computer system. An image having an image format compatible with the operating system is obtained. Content of a system file corresponding to the transition of the operating system is created using the image in a system directory.